Mitch Epstein

SELECTED WORKS BY Mitch Epstein

Mitch EpsteinBP Carson Refinery, California

2007

C-print

178 x 234 cm

The works shown here are from a much larger project, American Power. Mitch Epstein takes â€˜powerâ€™ in both its literal and figurative senses: the ability to get something done, the capacity to influence other people or events, political authority and control, energy produced by electrical, mechanical and nuclear means, and national strength. However, as wide as the definition of power is, American hegemony is such that Epsteinâ€™s clever title immediately focuses our minds on a country at the apex of military, economic and cultural might. In a general sense, Epstein concerns himself with the production, distribution and consumption of power in the United States.

Mitch EpsteinChalmette Oil Refinery, New Orleans, Louisiana II

2007

C-print

178 x 234 cm

What this means in visual terms is a close look at plants and factories, oil rigs, mines, wind turbines, petrol stations and other nodes, along with the effects our systems have on nature and society, both short and long term: the suburb, the inner city, recreation, pollution and disaster. Epsteinâ€™s gift is for the big picture; every image has a primary subject which strikes the eye, but closer scrutiny reveals all kinds of nuance. Behind the bluster of American power, Epstein seems to be saying, is great frailty.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012Photography: Out of Focus, Saatchi Gallery, London

2011Infinite Balance: Artists and the Environment, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego
Hyper Real: Art and America Around 1970, Ludwig Forum
New Documentary Forms, Tate Modern, London
Appropraited Landscapes, The Walther Collection, Ulm, Germany
Mannerism and Modernism: The Kasper Collection of Drawings and Photographs, New York

2010How Wine Became Modern: Design and Wine, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Ecoaesthetic: The Tragedy of Beauty, Exit Art, New York
Incognito: The Hidden Self Portrait, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera, Princeton University Art Museum, Tate Modern
American Documents, FotoMuseum, Antwerp
Starburst: Color Photography in America, 1970-1980, Cincinnati Art Museum
Extended Family: Contemporary Connections, Brooklyn Museum, New York

2006Ecotopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video, International Center of Photography
Cities In Transition, United Technologies Corporation commission, Boston, MA, Hartford, CT, New York, NY
Shoot the Family, ICI Travelling Exhibition
Garry Winogrand and the American Street Photographers, Fotografie Museum Amsterdam
The Open Book,Hasselblad Center, Goteborg, Sweden
70s Color Photography, Kennedy Boesky Photographs, NYC
NY after NY, Musee de Lâ€™Elysee, Lausanne, Switzerland
Visions from America, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Sense of Space, Noorderlicht, Groningen, The Netherlands
Overnight to Many Cities, 303 Gallery
Walkabout, New York Historical Society, NY
New York Now, Museum of the City of New York
Blind Spot #17, Mass College of Art
Eggleston and the Color Tradition, J. Paul Getty Museum, CA

1998Photography after Modernism:Extensions into Contemporary Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
The Sound of One Hand, Apex Art C.P., NYC
In Country: Vietnam Revisited, Laurence Miller Gallery, NYC